On June 23rd we had a Graduation ceremony.
This year four students graduated with flying colours: two students (Boris Vladislavlev, and Anna Gabrielyan) won gold medals and Arthur Akhsanov and Alyssa Starobina were awarded silver medals.
Congratulations!
The graduation ceremony was both solemn and touching...This year all the graduates and those present at the graduation ceremony got a lot of gifts. There was a 5-minute clip - a story on each graduate about his/her school years, wishes from their friends, parents and teachers. After receiving the school diploma each graduate made a special gratitude speech – presentation to the parents, teachers and our school. These were not only warm words, but also verses, a video gift to the classroom teacher and even the rock group presentation.
There was a very warm atmosphere in the assembly hall all the evening long. It was the time of saying farewell to childhood, to green years…
The final end of the graduation ceremony was a  two-day trip to St.Petersburg where we were on the boat crossing the Neva river, enjoyed the white nights, explored Peter the Great summer palace park - Peterhoff and the Gatchina park, and …cried at the railway station in Moscow because it was impossible to leave... 

Thank you, our dear graduates!
We love you very much!

On May 29th was our 6th annual SAAS "Marina" Science Fair competition of poster projects. This year the participants were the 10th graders. The experts had to judge 14 works in different areas of knowledge - Mathematics, History, and Social Studies. There were experts from the American Council for International Education, our alumni - students of Biology and Economics departments of the Moscow State University, parents, and our own teachers. There was also a children's jury composed of our 5-8 graders.

On May, 25th the traditional "last school bell" rung for our seniors. Probably, it is both the most touching and the saddest day of the year for everyone at school. An unusually warm atmosphere reigned in the auditorium all afternoon. Kind wishes from teachers and school administration were pronounced. The juniors prepared a medal as a gift for each graduate and a special wish in poetic form. Younger brothers and sisters recited their verses and shared cheerful and funny family stories. The school theatre presented our 13 th graduation class with a song "The Black Cat." The school film studio had its own gift for the seniors - the new videos: "People travel around the world", about various trips and travels of this class all over Russia, and the "Class Theatre", about the performances put on by the Class of '07 in the course of the last 4 years.
Our seniors prepared many pleasant surprises for the teachers too. Cheerful posters made for teachers in the style of the 50s made everyone smile and laugh. A special award - the Starfish Award - was designed by Marina Voronina (a senior) and all those who were teaching the class were decorated with it. An unexpected and great gift for English language teachers were the stories about their favourite teachers sent to the website www.longman.com   for the special column Great Teachers Inspire, Great Teachers Motivate , Great Teachers Change the World. These entries were made by Alice Starobina, Marina Martirossova and Boris Vladislavlev.
Another very special gift for all the teachers was the wonderful performance " The Marriage of Balsaminov" where all parts - major and minor- were performed by a group of excellent and talented actors - The Class of '07.
The end of the party was an enjoyable celebration on the banks of the Desna river, including a disco and watching sunrise the next morning...

Thanks you, dear seniors!!!
Success and good luck at the graduation exams!!! 

On May 11th, in commemoration of Victory Day, our school organized a recital concert dedicated to the poets of the Great Patriotic War. The verses of Pavel Kogan, Michael Kulchitsky and Nikolay Otrada were recited by the 7 th graders; the teachers and alumni sang Great Patriotic War songs. Our seniors performed the play "Tomorrow there was a war" based on Boris Vassiliev's story. It was so touching that there were tears in the eyes of the audience.

At the end of the presentation both the veterans and our 6 and 7 graders formed several teams and played an interactive historical game of World War II.

On April 14th, our students participated in the fifth Conference-competition of design and research works "The South West School District Science Fair,  Moscow 2007". The competition had three venues: the Palace of Creativity of Youth on Sparrow Hills, the People's Friendship University of Russia, and the Russian Academy of Sciences.
This year the Fair considerably expanded geographically and also became international: there were projects from 6 provinces of the Russian Federation, the Ukraine, Belarus, Estonia and even from the Russian Embassy School in Ethiopia! Very interesting ecological projects were presented by the students from Saransk (Mordovia), Chelyabinsk and Gomel (Belarus).
The opening ceremony was very warm: the Prefect of the South West Administrative District of Moscow, Mr. Alexey V. Chelyshev, addressed the students. He was followed by the State Duma MP, Mr. Paul Medvedev, a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Dr. Evgeny D. Teryaev, and the Superintendent of the South West School District of Moscow, Dr. Michael Y. Tikhonov.
Our school presented 16 projects made by students from Grades 2-11 covering various areas of knowledge: History, Social Sciences, Fine Arts, Economics, English, Biology, Geography, Physics, and Mathematics.
It is remarkable that everyone had an opportunity to present their work and discuss the results with known scientists!  They received many interesting suggestions and ideas on how the project should be developed.
It was a real festival of science!!!

We wish success to all the participants
of "The South West School District Science Fair, Moscow 2007" !!!

On March 31st, our school theatre, “Behind the Looking Glass” participated in the All-Russia Olympiad "Polyglot." They performed on the stage of the professional Moscow theatre “School of the Modern Play. " Their play “Astrel and the Woodkeeper " is a wonderful kind fairy tale and a touching story of love, friendship, and mutual assistance. There are no minor characters in the performance - all characters are very important - from the great wizard who lost his memory to a small sonorous birdie who helped to rescue the main characters. All actors played SO WELL! Their first performance on this professional stage was brilliant, and emotional heat was there until the last minute. The feedback from the audience was enthusiastic. There were well-known actors, parents, and festival participants from other cities of Russia.  
On April 1st (No joke!), on the stage of the famous Maly theatre, our school theatre “Behind the Looking Glass” got the long awaited award - the Silver mask of the winners of the All-Russia Olympiad "Polyglot" in the field of “Drama ". Our 3rd grader, Masha Epstein, (who played the Turtle) was awarded the diploma of “Best actress ".

But, that was not the end of it! The Children’s Music theatre, named after Natalia Sats, awarded our two actors –Alex Liubimov (Gwen the Woodkeeper) and Ann Prokopieva (Birdie Too Much) with masks and diplomas “For the best actor's work ".

Thanks to all the actors for their magnificent performance!!!

Awarding “The Silver Mask” on the stage of the famous Maly Theatre	Final scene of the performance

On March 23rd, there was an opening of the “Theatre of the Fables” organized by Grade 4B.
The motto of this presentation was: “Let’s listen to the voices of the wise fable writers!" The wonderful atmosphere of this presentation was created by our Grade 4B students and their classroom teacher (and the “Theatre of the Fables” director), Nina R.Turchaninova.
The main heroes were the famous fable writers - Ivan Krylov, La Fontaine and Aesop as well as their fable characters: the monkey, the fox, the dog, and the cock. All the actors did their very best!

On March 22nd, the French language holiday took place. Grades 4-7 students recited verses and sang songs in French. The students from Grade 7 and 6B presented scenes from Antoine de Saint Exupery’s “The Little Prince.” The audience enjoyed their performance and the beauty of the French language.

Thanks to all the participants!!!

We congratulate all five of you with the excellent results!!! Keep going!!! 

On February, 14th we celebrated a remarkable holiday – our school birthday!!! We are 16!
This year the holiday has continued the whole week. Our festival of creative arts «The Step to the Top» was a tremendous success - there were theatre competitions, competitions among young musicians, artists, singers and photographers, as well as a contest for the best recital, and the best video. Everyone could participate in these contests, thus earning points for themselves and for their grades. As a result our School Student Council has chosen the most active class and the most creative pupil of SAAS "Marina". They are Grades 3À and 5B and Sabina Alieva (Grade 6B). Congratulations to all!!! 
On February, 14th in the morning celebration first and second graders sang songs, recited verses, and congratulated one other and their favourite teachers with the school birthday and Valentine's Day.
During the afternoon celebration in the upper school, 8th graders performed a fragment from the musical "Belle". There was also the presentation of the song devoted to our school (the author of lyrics and music is Ms. Evgheniya G. Kogan – our French language teacher). We congratulated the winners of various competitions. Everyone enjoyed the video «Dreamer» shot by Hugo Erikssen (Grade 7À) - the winner of the video competition.
 The culmination of the holiday was our traditional homecoming alumni party. This year the graduates saw the videos about the school days they spent together; there was a hit parade of the most popular SAAS " Marina" students. The atmosphere of the holiday was warm and family like; the teachers and classmates exchanged sincere words of gratitude to each other.
It is remarkable, that not only students, but alumni participated in the concert too. Nikita Kiselyov (Class of 2004) sang a song dedicated to his school friends. And, Ànn Ì irakyan (Class of 2005) sang a song in the Armenian language.

 Thanks to all!!!

January 26th was the first night of our school theater's new performance "Astrel and the Woodkeeper." It was a great success!
The play was based on the fairy tale written by Svetlana Prokofieva. It pleased spectators with its interesting plot and the remarkable performance of our young actors. The majority of the actors were grade 3B students. It is their first performance, their debut. The performance lasted more than an hour and a half, and was remarkably brilliant. There was emotional climax until the last minute of it. The turtle (played by Masha Epstein) and the small bird "TooMuch"  (played by Anya Prokopyeva) were especially well received by spectators.

Dear actors! We wish you a lot of success and wait for your new performances!

The last week of the first semester was full of Christmas and New Year miracles.
On December 25th we celebrated Christmas at school. There was a presentation on the birth of Christ and two New Year videos shot by our students – a funny one titled " Do you believe in the existence of Father Frost? " and a serious video "Significant events in the life of SAAS "Marina" in 2006 .." The spectators enjoyed an entertaining program of "The Songs of the Year 2006."
The holiday turned out bright and cheerful. It is remarkable that this Christmas party was the first project prepared by our new Student Council, which started its work in the beginning of December. This is one of the New Year miracles of the past year.
On December 27th there was the premier of the "Snow Queen" performance, which was the gift of our seniors to the elementary school students. Thanks go to the seniors for their brilliant, talented acting and their kind and warm attitude to the kids.
On December 28th, in school, Father the Frost (Boris Vladislavlev) and his granddaughter, Snow Maiden, (Alice Starobina) brought gifts to all the students. In order to receive the gifts the students had to tell Father Frost about their achievements and the good accomplishments in the year 2006. Our students accomplished a lot: they helped their younger brothers and sisters, prepared a lot of parties and celebrations, raised money to help children in African countries, and made gifts for their relatives and friends…
The gift that Father Frost brought to our students this year was special too – it was the "Cookbook of Friends" - the book of recipes compiled by the students and the staff of SAAS
" Marina." It is a cookbook with family recipes from Russia, Georgia, Armenia, Norway, India, USA, Serbia, Latvia, Tatarstan, Uzbekistan and many other countries that represent our school.

On December 20, 2006 Mr. Andrew Stevenson, Professor of Economics and Business in Bellerbys College, Brighton, UK led a workshop (master class) for the SAAS "Marina" 10th graders.

On December 5th , we celebrated the 65th anniversary of the battle for Moscow against the fascists. All the students, from Grade 5 to Grade 11, gathered in the school assembly hall. Our history teacher Mr. Anatoly N. Shmelev talked about the heroic events in defense of Moscow. His bright and emotional story was accompanied by documentaries of those years.
The 7th graders prepared a poetic composition on the Great Patriotic war. Our students warmly greeted one participant in the defense of Moscow, the honored artist of Russia , Mr. Tovmas Gevorkyan. He shared with the audience memoirs on how the war began and about the terrible, yet heroic, days in defense of Moscow. The solemn speaker ended his tribute with a minute of silence in memory of all those who perished in the Second World War.

On November 13 our school received a delegation from the Russian grammar school of Tana, Estonia. This school was started on September 01, 1945. Since then the school changed its name and address, but has remained one of the best schools in the small Estonian town near Tallinn, the country's capital.
The students and their teachers were invited to Moscow by the South-West School District.
At our school the delegation attended Russian and English language classes as well as ESL classes. We discussed the system of education in both countries, talked about the way we celebrate holidays, and exchanged souvenirs.

We hope for a fruitful cooperation.

On November, 3 the end of the first term was marked by the magnificent musical and literary presentation  "Autumn Ball ".
The audience listened to verses from Alexander Pushkin, Fyodor Tyutchev, Anna Akhmatova and Igor Severjanin as performed by our 10 th graders. In addition, music composed by Mozart, Chopin and Tchaikovsky was masterfully performed by Ann Gabrielyan (Grade 11) and Ann Gnedkova (Grade 9A). The music and poetry created a serene fall atmosphere.
Our school's film studio created  a video especially for this holiday, "What is autumn?" This wonderful short film left no one in the audience indifferent.  
The culmination of the day was the choice of the Fall Queen.   Each class had its own image of the queen: the Golden autumn - Grade 11, Fruitful autumn - Grade 10, Pushkin's autumn - Grade 9, and Rainy autumn - Grade 8.  Each class nominated one student to represent their grade and theme. The competition included a costume parade, the ability to play an autumn melody on a musical instrument, and the quality of the fall salad prepared by the participants.  
The images created by participants of the competition, were bright, expressive and very different. The Pushkin autumn (created by Ann Patkina) displayed elegance in the richness of her costume and presentation skills. The Fruitful Autumn (Liana Sargsyan) fascinated all the spectators with her optimism and sense of humor, the Rainy Autumn (Nina Stavtseva) appealed to everyone with a recital of autumn verses, composed by Nick Golovin and Leo Levin (Grade 8).  She also had an original recipe of fall salad prepared by her classmate Nikita Kostitsyn. The Golden Autumn (Marina Martirossova) touched our hearts with sincerity and visions of the senior's last autumn at school.
Spectators selected the Fall Queen, and though all the contestants were really great, the rank of Queen was awarded to the Golden autumn - Marina Martirosova (Grade11). Congratulations, Marina!  
Thanks go to all the participants of this holiday! We would also like to give a special thanks to the 10th graders and their classroom teachers Ms. Irina V. Romashko and Ms. Nadezhda P.Gnedkova for organizing the celebration! 

The holiday was lyrical, bright, touching and diverse as the autumn itself.

On October, 31 we celebrated the traditional autumn holiday -Carnival (a costume parade). It was organized by the English language faculty for grades 3-7. Preparation started at the beginning of October with an essay competition on the internet for students, "A Halloween Detective Story." Students also prepared for the competition self-made lanterns and kites!  On this day the students read verses and sang songs, while fortunetellers predicted their futures. Then the 6th graders presented an amusing performance about a horror story in English titled, "A Monstrous Imagination ".  The holiday ended with a parade of self-made costumes. The winners of the literary competition also received prizes. All in all, it   was a cheerful and absolutely not scary holiday. Special thanks to the English language faculty staff for organizing the event!

On October 23, the World Day of School Libraries was celebrated. In SAAS "Marina", the library is a special place - it is the soul of our school, the place our school started from. Both students and teachers spend a lot of time there. We can find answers to all the questions we are interested in, because our library has more than twenty five thousand books – all in different languages!
Preparation for this holiday lasted for the whole week. 4th graders developed various bookmark designs. All the bookmarks were very original and beautiful. The prize for the best bookmarks was awarded to Nadezhda Malakhova and Daniel Delicatny (Grade 4B). Other 4th graders designed our school library emblem. The winner in this competition was Glasha Steklova (Grade 4C).
There was also a competition for the best motto for our school library. The best motto award went to Kate Orlova (Grade 4A). We hope you will also like it: «Textbooks and books are good friends to me and you! They can teach you about the world around you and about you, too! »
All students took part in the competition of compositions about the school library. It is wonderful, that the essays/compositions were written in Russian, English, French and German languages! 
The best compositions in German were written by 5th graders Christina Gamza and Mia Andzhelich (they made remarkable illustrations to their works too). The best composition in French was written by Daria Kalitventseva (Grade10À ).
In addition, our seniors Alice Starobina and Anastassia Alexeeva organized very interesting excursions in the library for elementary school students.

The holiday was a success! We thank all the participants and our wonderful librarian, Ms. Liubov Mukhacheva!

On September, 29 our school celebrated the best fall holiday - Teachers' Day. Traditionally, it was called Self-Governance Day. The school worked under the control of the new School Principal for this day – Mr. Boris P.Vladislavlev and Assistant Principal – Mr. Arthur N.Akhsanov. The seniors, freshmen, sophomores and juniors challenged themselves as teachers, but according to a special decree passed by the new Principal for that day, they could give only As and Bs to the students. No home assignments were allowed on that day, either! To do well on this Self-Governance Day the new school administration worked hard during the two preceding weeks: they held teachers' meetings, wrote lesson plans, and discussed their future orders and decrees.
A survey of elementary school students on "What would you like to change in our school life?" was carried out. Films on SAAS "Marina" teachers were shot.
On Self-Governance Day the new school administration attended the lessons, solved the conflicts, and congratulated all the teachers on their professional holiday.
At the end of the day there was a funny concert and competition titled "The Teachers are Singing" It was a true display of teachers' talents. The participants were judged by a very strict mocking jury who were representatives of a political party "The Union of Teachers of Russia".  This panel included a musical critic, the representative of Department of Education, a rock - singer, and Hollywood star "Alice Starborn" with her interpreter (all parts were played by the seniors).
Certainly, everyone was a winner!!! Each participant received a comic prize from the jury. But the main award was the enthusiastic reception of the audience and the bursts of applause after each performance.

On September, 25 our school celebrated the International Day of European Languages. Each grade (Grades 5-8) represented one European country: Austria, England, Bulgaria, Germany, Slovenia, France, Italy, and Spain. Songs were sang in the Bulgarian, German, and French languages, and music pieces composed by Mozart and Chopin were performed by our pupils.
In addition, Johanna, George and Cyril Tomov gave a wonderful presentation on their native country, Bulgaria. National costumes, national songs and dances were welcomed and warmly received by the audience.
Grade 5B represented England, and pleased the spectators with a delicious national pudding baked by Robinson family!
The holiday went well! We learned a lot about European countries and European languages.

Many thanks to all the participants and the organizers!!!

On September 01 we celebrated the holiday, “The Day of Knowledge", dedicated to the beginning of the new school year.
The first graders stepped over the threshold of our school for the first time. Their new life began; a life full of discoveries, school lessons, breaks and school holidays. The seniors prepared for these little-ones the adapted version of “Pinocchio” (Russian “Buratino”). Together with the main characters of this fairy tale, the first-graders searched for a small key from the ‘Country of Knowledge’, read verses and guessed riddles!

The first-graders got a lot of gifts that day – including a congratulatory postcard, made by the seniors who put their love for the little ones into these small tokens.
At the opening ceremony in the upper school, the new students got a special welcome, and those who had their birthdays in summer were specially greeted with birthday pies.
This academic year SAAS “ Marina” students will start many new projects.  Particularly, our school is the first in Russia, during the academic year 2006-2007, to participate in the North American distant education program (e-learning)! This program is in association with the University of Miami Online High School. Our students will have the chance to receive an American school diploma while staying and studying in Moscow!
The program was presented by the executive director of the "E-learning Desktop Inc." Mr. Jim Pennington.
During the opening ceremony, Mr. Pennington presented our school with a certificate of partnership and noted that he considers SAAS "Marina" to be the best school out of more than 200 that he visited in Russia! We are excited about this new program and think it will be very beneficial to the students.
In conclusion, ‘The Day of Knowledge’ was a success! Everyone was happy to be back together with their friends, classmates and teachers. New discoveries, successes and victories are in store for us this year.

Dear SAAS " Marina" students, parents and teachers!
We congratulate all of you with the beginning of the new academic year! We wish you success and outstanding achievements!

Between August 15 and August 30, 2006 the Central Exhibition Hall "Arena" hosted "A School Fair from A to Z ". It was especially exciting because this year the work projects of our students were exhibited there too!
Anna Gnedkova and Olga Odjagajlo displayed their work "Aromatherapy", and Xenia Arutyunov and Olga Elina presented their work " New Economy. The Digital Approach to Success."
Anna Gnedkova, grade 9A, was the only non-virtual SAAS "Marina" participant of this fair (the others were still out of Moscow on vacation, and it was impossible to trace them). Anna was great – she did her best to present both works, participated in the debates/discussions, and answered very difficult questions. Well done, Anna!!

Alas... The summer is coming to an end! School will begin, and though v acations are always fun, w e'll meet our friends soon! We missed them all these summer months…Hooray!

Thank you very much, our dear graduates!!!!
Good luck and success to all of you at your entrance exams to the universities and in your future life!
We hope you won’t forget our school!!!

May 25
The 11th graders have rung out traditional last call for the school year. This was probably the most touching and sad day for everyone at SAAS, as it always is when another class graduates.
Kind wishes from teachers and administration of school were beset
upon the students. The dear and sincere 1st graders also wished the seniors well. Pupils of the third and fourth grades prepared a gift for each graduate, including a card and a medal with a wish of fortune in verse. The sixth and the eighth graders prepared the bright
dramatized congratulatory songs.
The gift to teachers from the 11th grade was an original performance of the unusual restaurant 'Il Marino' where exclusive dishes were prepared for each teacher.

Thanks you, dear graduates!
We wish you success at examinations and beyond! 
 

On April 22nd, the eve of Shakespeare's birthday, our school presented a Shakespeare festival of performances in English. The theme for this year was   Literary Characters on the Stage . Participants included students from 14 different Moscow schools. This year the festival gained official city status, and took place on the stage of the Moscow City Palace of Children's Creativity. The judges for the competition included representatives of  such companies as "Pearson Education", "Eurobook", "Britain", "Centrocom", "Knowledge Centre", the International Academy of Business and Management, and actress Jeanne Vorobeva (an SAAS alumnus, class of 1995). The festival began after a few kind words to the participants of festival from the
Director of the Children's Music Theatre named after N. Sats , Mr.Victor P. Ryabov.
Participants have presented very different performances, across many themes and moods. There were both musicals and comedies, and even Ostrovsky's play "Even a Wise Man Stumbles". A shining performance of a scene from Shakespeare's unique   A Midsummer Night's Dream   was
carried out by our pupils. Nearly all the judges agreed on this assessment.

Congratulations to all!!
 

March 8.
The remarkable 'International Women's Day' has come and gone, gracing us all with an abundance of colors, smiles, and kind words for our wonderful teachers, caring nurses and thoughtful administrators who make our school feel as cozy as home. Each class held its own individual celebration. There were competitions for moms and grandmothers , a dramatized thank-you (4A ), a trip to children's club (4B ) and many other events. At the end of the day, all gathered for a performance - a gift to the school from 10th and 5th classes. The heartwarming tragedy-parody 'The Secret Golden Key, or, Crying rich in Santa Barbara ' touched everyone in attendance, bringing tears and smiles to the audience as it recognized famous pieces adapted from Nikolai Gogol, William Shakespeare and Alexander Pushkin and brought into the Brazilian soap opera. Thanks to the actors, to the stage director Alexandra Dukhanina and to our audience. We're all anticipating your next production!!!

Best wishes to the lovely ladies of SAAS, and to our dear mothers and
grandmothers too!!!
We wish you happiness, health, and springtime warmth, courtesy of the pupils and administration of school!
 

February 14th. We've turned 15!!!
This holiday, devoted to birthday of the school, lasted the entire day. In the morning, pupils of 1^st and 2^nd classes sang songs, read poems and congratulated each other and their favourite teachers on a happy birthday. The school received gifts from the various classes, including remarkable books and chess sets for the school library.
At 12.00, the 3^rd and 4^th classes celebrated with touching verses about their school, including songs in several different languages. Of course, there was the traditional cake with candles and ice-cream!!!
At 13.30, a concert prepared by pupils from the 5^th ¨C 11^th classes begun. The faculty also sounded their congratulations: teachers of foreign languages prepared a cheerful video with segments in the German, French and English languages, the faculty of Mathematics presented the school with 15 CDs with the best works of the students and the faculty of Sciences has summed up our participation in science competitions with its video entitled "15 Steps on the Way to Olympus."

The finale of the holiday became a solemn event - a tribute from our returning alumni.
In all, the event lasted 3 hours, and touched everyone. The video documentary " The History of School in Detail " reminded us of the bright and touching moments the life of the school, including its founding and development over the past decade and a half. Words of kindness and mature self-awareness have created an atmosphere of unity, achievement and pride in our graduates, pupils and teachers!

Happy birthday to you, SAAS "Marina"!!!

February, 10th was an eventful day.
On this day the students and staff celebrated the life and work of Our Beloved Poet, Alexander Pushkin , on the traditional holiday dedicated to this famous Russian author. Pupils of all classes recited verses of the great poet, as well as a chapter from Yuri Tynyanov's novel "Pushkin".
The brightest event of the day was a Pushkin "sit-round celebration" at a samovar with steering-wheels and gingerbreads. Students read verses, spoke about a life of the poet, and 5B delivered a magnificent performance.

Many thanks to faculty of Russian language and literature for a perfectly organized evening!

On the 12^th of September, Jim Pennington of E-Learning Desktop (ELD) introduced the students and parents to our new North American-based distance learning program. ELD CFO in Russia Irina Artemova and the superintendent a Manitoba, Canada school district, Rob Weston, shared their excitement about bringing this new program to Moscow and to our school. Pupils and parents were introduced to the virtual classroom, shown how the system would work, and had the opportunity to communicate with teachers in the US and Canada via live internet camera. Our students now enjoy a range of new opportunities, including the possibility to earn certificates from North American schools. The highlight of the day was Mr. Weston’s personal talk with the 10^th graders, when he confessed admitted to being touched by the opportunity to bring Canadian and Russian students together in the spirit of learning and cooperation.

On September 1^st, the entire school gathered to celebrate the arrival of another school year. The first bell rang for our new 1^st graders, who were met by our newly minted 11^th grade students – bells were ringing as our oldest students greeted our newest ones.
Birthday cakes were presented for all those who had birthdays over the summer, as not to be left out.
The winners of last year’s school science fair were also announced. Certificates and subscriptions to Scientific American were presented to the honorees. Congratulations!!
Both students and faculty were excited about the technology overhaul which SAAS underwent during summer break. High-speed internet connections are now featured in all of the classrooms, a high-speed server was brought online, and A/V projectors were installed in most classrooms with uplinks to the teacher’s computers. Happily, this technology will afford us an intimate connection between the elementary and upper school buildings, and our entire school with the greater world.
The Holiday was a happy occasion, as students reunited after a long summer, and teachers and students were reacquainted in anticipation of another exciting school year. 

To the students, teachers and parents:
We wish you good luck and high marks! 

On June 20 our school was holding a graduating ceremony. The motto of the ceremony was “Good-bye graduating students, Hello people of the future!” The holiday began with the waltz performed by the school-leavers. While students were being given the school-leaving certificates teachers were saying their farewell speeches and every student was thanking school and parents. This year we have three medal-holders among the graduating students: Nickolay Kotov (golden medal), Narine Sargsyan and Artyom Kirakosyan (silver medals). Congratulations!!!

Every school-leaver received “Big Book of Aphorisms”, memorable badge and CDs with photos of their school life.

Students have prepared several concert items. The funniest was the performance called “SAAS Marina Oriental Branch” spoken in Arab language with the simultaneous translation. Everybody was impressed by Sveta Ponomaryova singing jazz. Anya Mirakyan and Sveta Ponomaryova’s song in Armenian became the special surprise of the concert dedicated to all the teachers.

The ceremony and the concert were very bright and special.

Thank you very much, our school-leavers!!!

Good luck and success to all of you in your future life!

We would like to thank all those who helped the children of Beslan. All your gifts were donated to the TV program “Vremechko”. A journalist that represents this program, Yana Poplavskaya, will deliver all the presents directly to the children of Beslan.

            At the charity performance organized by the school we raised the total of 81.494 rubles and $955 for the victims of the terrorism. In the nearest few days all the money will be transferred to the families who suffered from the terrorist attack. We thank everyone for their help and assistance. In the Russian version of our site you can read the letter sent to us by the people who had received the first donation.

On the first of September we had a big celebration, dedicated to the beginning of the school year named as “The Day of Knowledge”. The very first bell rang for the first graders and warm wishes were said to our new seniors. All children whose birthdays fell on summer vacations received a birthday cake. Cartoon characters named Knownothing (Neznaika)  and Shapokliak were our guests. They said riddles and played with the children. By the end of our celebration all of our staff members and students received a school calendar, that has all of the important events in this upcoming year. Everyone was happy to see their fellow classmates and favorite teachers. New discoveries, achievements and new goals are waiting for us.

Dear students of SAAS “Marina”,
Parents and teachers!
We congratulate you
With the beginning of a new school year!
We wish you high achievements,
And good grades! 

The last school bell rang for our  seniors on May 25, 2004. The classes are over. Exams, the graduation ceremony and “grown-up” life are awaiting for them. 

Traditionally, the ECIS (European Council of International Schools) awards  found their winners at this ceremony. This year the awards went to Maria Martynova and Marina Yourovskaya. Congratulations!!!

 The concert titled “The Songs of the Year” was prepared by the seniors and became an excellent present to their teachers, parents and friends. It turned out to be very touching and warm-hearted. It was difficult to  realize that those students, who were very so small not long ago, are now saying goodbye to their childhood.

 Thank you very much, dear seniors!!!
Good luck to you all!!!

    As the school year began, the students and parents bustled upstairs to see the newly added third and fourth floor of our school building.  They then gathered in the auditorium for the opening remarks by the Principal and  teachers.
   Students, parents, faculty and staff of SAAS "Marina",
the best of luck to you in everything you do this school year.

    September 2  As the school year began the Summer's construction work wound down. The addition of a third and fourth floor on the school building more than doubled the available space for classrooms. There are new Chemistry and Biology lab, along with the English Grammar classrooms and Geography classroom. The auditorium will be finished at the end of September.

 July 27  The school's medal winners participated in a magnificent celebration, organized by the South West School District.
Our Gold Medalists, Sergey Eremeev and Maria Sukhova participated in the concert program.

 Thanks to all who helped to organize this celebration!

June25 School Graduation Ceremony.
Academic honors and  awards were presented to students in different categories.  As the presentations ended, all were happy to see that each student had received an award in one of the categories.
The brightest part of the evening was the performance of the student program "Back Side of the Stars", a concert and entertainment program they organized and put on themselves.  The parents and teachers laughed to the point of crying during the performance...
Photos of 11th grade graduation.

July 13 Graduation Ceremony for the ninth graders. During the ceremony, the class gave a presentation on the growth throughout their years at "Marina", called "Nine Moments of Spring"  They spoke about the memories that they have had during their nine years here. The students played music, showed photographs and thanked the teachers and parents for helping them so far.  For them, school is not over, but they are beginning the process of determining the focus their last years at "Marina" and preparing for the university.